Hello,

I'm a fairly experienced available light shooter and am decent with a flash on a flash bracket. However, for family and friends I'm starting to get more into portraits and find that I need a slightly more sophisticated lighting setup. Since I’m just starting down this road, I figure that in addition to having two flash guns (SB-800 and SB900), spending about $200-$250 to get the basics should suffice. My thoughts are this:

--- get the 2nd flash ( I have an SB-800 and plan to pick up an SB-900)

then spend the $200-$250 on this:

--- two impact light stands (9.5 feet max, 22lbs load)
--- two flash/umbrella holders
--- three or four reversible umbrellas of different sizes and material to play with.

Background will come later as for now I have plenty of places to use as a backdrop.

What do you think? Also, when it comes to the umbrellas, I’m not sure if I should go 32” or 45”, white, silver, or soft-silver. Any inexpensive brand that is good? Any that is bad and should be avoided?

Thanks for any help & advice you can provide.

Andre

For umbrellas I use the 43" Westcott ones. They're like $20 and come in all kinds of flavours- white, silver, gold, ones with black backs and ones without. They also fold up really neatly and compactly so you can take them on location easy as easy can be.

I have 2 white shoot-thru and 2 silver. All the same size. All Westcott. I got them because they work, are cheap and are super duper portable so i can shoot out of a backpack.

Your shopping list looks nice. I think the impact stands are great for the money. I have one of them and one Bogen/Manfrotto one and I prefer the impact. It doesn't fold up as small but it feels a lot sturdier and made of thicker tubing.

What modifiers will be most effective depends on what is being shot and how the lights are placed.

The illusion of soft and hard is mostly a reaction to how light or dark the shadows are. What controls the edge contrast (i.e. feathering) on the edges of the shadows is how many direction the light comes from relative to the object casting the shadow.

There are two basic methods you can use:

Big Modifier / Wrap Fill: A big modifier when used close enough to dwarf the object it is lighting will cause the light to wrap around the object creating more fuzzy edges on the shadows (penumbra) that a more parallel source would. As the big modifier is moved away from the object the light that hits the object becomes more parallel and the shadows more distinct. But unless you are shooting in a cave or out in the backyard as the light moves further away more will bounce indirectly off the ceiling and walls (uncontrollably) providing indirect fill. If there is enough wrap or spill fill a separate fill source might not even be need. This approach is quite effective on white background where the goal is to use the bright edges of the photo to push the viewer into an evenly lit, saturated face. The color contrast of the warm face / neutral background attracts the eye.

Small Modifier / Neutral Fill: When fill is place just over the camera it will lift everything the camera sees. With the shadows already filled there's no compelling need for a huge modifer on the key light and since the fill doesn't create many shadows the camera sees there's no need for a huge modifier on the fill either. This approach is very effective on dark backgrounds because keeping everything darker than the front of the face is what will pull the viewer and hold their attention on the face. It is also an effective strategy for candid shots with speedlights, which contrast controlled with the fill on the camera bracket.

Umbrellas are cheaper than soft boxes but spill more light which can become a problem controlling light in a small reflective room on a dark background. White is better for humans, silver for furry and feathered critters because silver creates more specular highlights which are needed for black and white fur, not ideal on smooth skin.

Softboxes offer more directional control of the light by reducing back scatter and spill of the ceiling and are a better tool for lighting dark background portraits.

Since your initial objective will be learning what the various modifiers do I'd suggest a medium SB in the 24 x 32 range, and white and silver umbrellas. Mixing and matching those as key and fill should teach you what you need to know to make informed purchases of any additional gear.

For flattering natural patterns the key light need to be above eye level to mimic the direct of the light we see on faces most of the time. That makes low ceilings a limiting factor. Keep that in mind before buying any large modifiers.

Chuck

cgardner wrote:
...

Chuck

Thanks for a great concise break down of light modifiers, Chuck!

TezM wrote:
For umbrellas I use the 43" Westcott ones. They're like $20 and come in all kinds of flavours- white, silver, gold, ones with black backs and ones without. They also fold up really neatly and compactly so you can take them on location easy as easy can be.

I have 2 white shoot-thru and 2 silver. All the same size. All Westcott. I got them because they work, are cheap and are super duper portable so i can shoot out of a backpack.

Your shopping list looks nice. I think the impact stands are great for the money. I have one of them and one Bogen/Manfrotto one and I prefer the impact. It doesn't fold up as small but it feels a lot sturdier and made of thicker tubing.


Tez,

Thank you for the feedback. What you describe sounds like it would work well for me. Glad to hear about the Impact vs Bogen/Mafrotto choice, especially where the Impacts are so much less expensive. Sometimes with B/M I think we pay for the name.

Thanks again,
Andre

cgardner wrote:
What modifiers will be most effective depends on what is being shot and how the lights are placed.

The illusion of soft and hard is mostly a reaction to how light or dark the shadows are. What controls the edge contrast (i.e. feathering) on the edges of the shadows is how many direction the light comes from relative to the object casting the shadow.

There are two basic methods you can use:

Big Modifier / Wrap Fill: A big modifier when used close enough to dwarf the object it is lighting will cause the light to wrap around the object creating more fuzzy edges on the shadows (penumbra) that a more parallel source would. As the big modifier is moved away from the object the light that hits the object becomes more parallel and the shadows more distinct. But unless you are shooting in a cave or out in the backyard as the light moves further away more will bounce indirectly off the ceiling and walls (uncontrollably) providing indirect fill. If there is enough wrap or spill fill a separate fill source might not even be need. This approach is quite effective on white background where the goal is to use the bright edges of the photo to push the viewer into an evenly lit, saturated face. The color contrast of the warm face / neutral background attracts the eye.

Small Modifier / Neutral Fill: When fill is place just over the camera it will lift everything the camera sees. With the shadows already filled there's no compelling need for a huge modifer on the key light and since the fill doesn't create many shadows the camera sees there's no need for a huge modifier on the fill either. This approach is very effective on dark backgrounds because keeping everything darker than the front of the face is what will pull the viewer and hold their attention on the face. It is also an effective strategy for candid shots with speedlights, which contrast controlled with the fill on the camera bracket.

Umbrellas are cheaper than soft boxes but spill more light which can become a problem controlling light in a small reflective room on a dark background. White is better for humans, silver for furry and feathered critters because silver creates more specular highlights which are needed for black and white fur, not ideal on smooth skin.

Softboxes offer more directional control of the light by reducing back scatter and spill of the ceiling and are a better tool for lighting dark background portraits.

Since your initial objective will be learning what the various modifiers do I'd suggest a medium SB in the 24 x 32 range, and white and silver umbrellas. Mixing and matching those as key and fill should teach you what you need to know to make informed purchases of any additional gear.

For flattering natural patterns the key light need to be above eye level to mimic the direct of the light we see on faces most of the time. That makes low ceilings a limiting factor. Keep that in mind before buying any large modifiers.

Chuck


Chuck,

This is an awsome rundown of the basics and will help me greatly. Just from your description I'm starting to see some of my mistakes already. Sounds like I need to add a small SB to my list of items.

I have to print this post off and reread it as I practice.

Thanks again.
Andre


PS. Nice tutorials on the web page!